Essay
Exhibited
Wildenstein & Co., New York, Seven Philadelphia Painters, October 1927
Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, Art Collecting Philadelphia Style: Selected Works from a Private Collection, September–October 1968
Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, The M.P. Potamkin Collection, January–March 1970
William Penn Memorial Museum, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, An Alumnus Salutes Dickinson College 200th Anniversary (From the Collection of Meyer and Vivian Potamkin), November 1972–January 1973
Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia; Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.; National Academy of Design, New York, Arthur B. Carles: Painting with Color, September 1983–November 1984
Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, American Art from the Collection of Vivian and Meyer P. Potamkin, June–October 1989
Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, Founders Day 1996: Potamkin Collection, March–April 1996
Literature
The M.P. Potamkin Collection (Dallas: Dallas Art Museum, 1970), n. p.
An Alumnus Salutes Dickinson College 200th Anniversary (From the Collection of Meyer and Vivian Potamkin) (Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: William Penn Memorial Museum, 1972), pp. 32, 51.
In This Academy (Philadelphia: Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, 1983), back cover.
Edward J. Sozanski, “Audacious and Sensual, but Still a Philadelphian,” The Philadelphia Inquirer, September 27, 1983.
Barbara A. Wolanin, Arthur B. Carles: (1882–1952) Painting with Color, exh. cat. (Philadelphia: Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, 1983), pp. 87–8, 170.
Terence G. List, “American Art Masterworks–On View for You,” The Philadelphia Inquirer, June 9, 1989.
American Art from the Collection of Vivian and Meyer P. Potamkin (Philadelphia: Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, 1989), p. 8.
Janet Wilson, “In the Eye of the Collector,” Applause (September 1990), p. 17.
Perkiomen School, Perkiomen Alumni News (Pennsburg, Pennsylvania: Fall1990), on cover.
Edward J. Sozanski, “Bequest Comes Early to the Art Museum,” The Philadelphia Inquirer, March 27, 2000.
There is no substitute for the sensual enjoyment of experiencing paintings by Carles in person . . . His canvases are never static; each viewing offers new surprises.–– Barbara A. Wolanin, art historian[1]
Arthur B. Carles, a native of Philadelphia, was a pioneer of modern American art. Beginning his career during a cultural renaissance in America and Europe, Carles was exposed to the important Modernist trends that influenced his style and shaped his career. He commenced his studies in 1900 when he received a scholarship from the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts where he trained with American masters William Merritt Chase and Thomas Anshutz, and worked beside students Charles Demuth and John Marin. He was awarded the four-hundred dollar first prize in figure painting as well as a two-thousand dollar scholarship to study for two years in Europe; thus, he promptly left for Paris where he remained from 1907–1910. It was there that he encountered the avant-garde work of Cézanne and Matisse, as well as the innovations of Gauguin, Picasso, and Braque as they deviated from Realism and Post-Impressionism to embrace abstract art.
Upon his return to the United States, Carles associated with Modernist artists in the circle of Alfred Stieglitz, who coincidentally gave Carles his first one-man show in 1912 at the renowned “291” Gallery. Carles gained a favorable reputation from this exhibition and was invited to participate in the Armory Show of 1913 the very next year, placing him among the forerunners of American Modernism. Here, he exhibited his work alongside artistic luminaries including his mentors, Matisse, Picasso, Cézanne, and Gauguin as well as Americans Stuart Davis, Arthur B. Davies, and William Glackens.
Carles’ interest in still-life painting flourished soon after his presentation at the Armory Show; by the mid-1920s his primary focus was floral still lifes. Still Life, Flowers, a large and dramatic composition, echoes the styles of Matisse, Cézanne, and Gauguin, who undoubtedly influenced the skilled, younger, avant-garde American painter. The wild flowers juxtaposed against the patterned wall render the work lively and dynamic, lending an exotic air to the composition. Carles’ saturated and smooth application of paint also gives the canvas a striking tactile lushness. The background of this sizable work is a symphony of pastel tones, which subtly weave through one another to create a seamlessly, cohesive palette. Pink and violet blossoms burst from the vase that rests atop a simple, wooden table, creating a brilliant silhouette against the soft backdrop. And although Carles alludes to extended space by providing a view that leads into another, hidden room, his colors and textures ask the viewer to concentrate on the luminous floral arrangement created by his masterly technical skills at the fore. One of Carles’ masterpieces, Still Life, Flowers is a sensuous, elegant painting that speaks to the artist’s Modernist milieu and his keen originality.
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[1] The Orchestration of Color: The Paintings of Arthur B. Carles, exh. cat. (New York: Hollis Taggard Galleries, 2000), p. 28.